music journal

I’ve had lots of musical dreams over the years. I keep most of them to myself. one that I’ve always thought was rather attainable is to play music together as a family. sometimes we do a little and it’s usually a good time.

long ago Michelle played guitar. in fact she played a whole lot. but that really was before we met, and while I’ll always be grateful that she brought a nice guitar into the mix, I’ve been a little sad that we havent played much together. there’s been a couple memorable exceptions involving church music, but nothing that ever lasted. it’s mostly been because health issues got in the way of her playing, but also I guess she lost interest. meanwhile my interest has been soaring.

so I wrote her the “Be My Nancy” song, and it seems to have struck a chord, so to speak. during our weekend getaway we worked on songs together, figuring out harmonies and a little bit of arrangements, and we were both excited about the results. so I burned her a CD of my songs (most of which can be found on this blog) and she’s been listening for harmonies and such.

then came word of our neighborhood coffee shop hosting a family music/open mic night, and that got us going a little more. so we practiced “My Aya” and “Be My Nancy” with me on lead vocals and octave mandolin, and her on harmony vocals and guitar. and if I do say so myself, I think we sound pretty good! it’s a little bit of work finding that sweet spot, since neither of us are naturally good at finding harmony (like some friends are). but once we find it, I’m really liking the results. anyway, we did our songs at the coffee shop, and they were well received by the very small audience.

so it really is a little dream come true to be able to make music together, and I’m hoping we can keep it up. I’m still amazed that I can put down songs that I enjoy singing, and it’s even cooler to do it together. so hopefully soon we’ll record some stuff for a little album to share. whatever happens with all this, we’re thankful for the gift of being able to dive into something we both enjoy together.

I got asked to play for a little local function, and I was happy to help out. it didnt turn out all that well though. in fact it was a bit of a disaster. actually I thought my playing/singing went OK, but the problem was I was pretty much the only one who could hear it. no PA, but that would’ve made it worse probably. it was in the community rec center gym, and there were kids running and screaming on the other half, so it was pretty much the worst possible “acoustics”. I’m guessing outer space or under water may have been better. they wanted “background music” and that’s certainly what they got.

so I did a couple songs, pretty much no one noticed. well one guy asked later if that was lute or a mandolin or what? I didnt even bother getting out the guitar for the other songs, as I got interrupted by announcments on a bullhorn (that no one could understand anyway).

oh well…maybe next time will be better.